Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of days. My week in the fourth grade ended and went extremely well but was so exhausting. The weekend was...ahh....just what I needed. I was productive but was able to rest a good bit.
Well, I finished my book for February last night. I know...I always finish them on the last day that I am "allowed to" according to my resolution. For Christmas, Brett got me two books in one volume. He got me The Sacred Romance and Desire by John Eldredge. For February I opted to read Desire:
(This isn't what the cover of mine looks like...but I couldn't find my actual cover)
The book overall theme of the book is about our journey to find the life we prize and how our desires are often what guides this journey. God uses our desires to call us and lead us. The book was an easy read and I really enjoyed it. Here are a few quotes that I liked from the book:
"Clearly, God is not opposed to desire. Far from it. He gave us a heart that desires deeply, and he uses those desires to draw us to himself, and to the life he created us to live."
"We abandon the most important journey of our lives when we abandon desire."
This is so true. I believe that in life we have to have a balance of listening to and following our hearts and remembering that it is dangerous. After all, God's Word says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" -Jeremiah 17:9 This is something I have definitely learned. Our desires and our hearts influence our actions but ultimately God must determine and direct our steps.
"God is a deeply, profoundly passionate person. Zeal consumes him. It is the secret of his life, the writer of Hebrews says. The 'joy set before him' enabled Jesus to endure the agony of the Cross. In other words, his profound desire for something greater sustained him at the moment of his deepest trial."
"God creates mankind for intimacy with himself, as his beloved. We see it right at the start, when he gives us the highest freedom of all--the freedom to reject him. The reason is obvious: love is possible only when it is freely chosen. True love is never constrained, our heats cannot be taken by force. "
So it was a great book and I enjoyed it! One month soon I will read the other book in this volume. Another thing I wanted to talk about was church on Sunday. The sermon was great but at the end of church is what hit me. Jack showed the video in the link below:
This is a Francis Chan video and he is talking about the persecution of those Christians in India. Disclaimer: It is a bit gruesome. I was so heartbroken. The thing is...I have felt that way before and I may think about if for the day or even the week but after that it is out of sight, out of mind. I hate that. The bottom line is: As Christians we are called to persecution. God's Word even tells us that we should expect trouble and persecution. Living for and standing up for Christ is a sacrifice. It is a great call. I couldn't help but think, "that should be me." Ultimately, in the United States we choose to what extent we are persecuted and even then, we are not truly persecuted. I know that I will not be beaten for my faith, at least not now. However, I have been encouraged to truly pray for these people along with, I am sure many others who are beaten and killed for faith in Christ. Jack explained that it takes so much courage and faith to be a believer in countries like that because if they could be rid of this persecution by just renouncing Jesus Christ. So, as I end, I would encourage you to pray and pray hard for these people. Be thankful that you don't have to experience that type of persecution but pray that you will be bold enough to stand for Christ in the same way that these people do.
On that note...I am off.
Have a good week everyone!
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